It appears that the Foo Fighters, one of the biggest rock bands of their generation, are playing an invitation-only event at a not-for-profit arts centre in Frome, Somerset, on Friday evening. That has ramped up the long-running speculation that they will be confirmed alongside Radiohead as the latest headliners for this year’s Glastonbury festival.

On Wednesday, the US band launched their Obelisk Airlines website, counting down to “in-flight entertainment to begin at 7.45pm on Friday evening”. A mock departure board listed forthcoming gigs, with 10 listed as “for sale” and the board topped by a “pending” show, listed with apparently nonsense letters – though the first two of them are “GL”.

Some Foo Fighters fans were sent “boarding passes” earlier this week, seemingly followed on Thursday by further details in the form of an invitation to the Cheese and Grain in Frome on Friday night.

The venue itself has announced that it is closed on Friday for “a strictly private event” and told visitors: “There will be no tickets available at all to anyone who has not already been invited. Please do not come to the venue as we are unable to assist with any admission requests and we will be closed to the public all day.”

The Foo Fighters have also begun following two Frome record shops on Twitter – Covers Vinyl and Raves From the Grave. The former tweeted its thanks to the band.

The Foo Fighters were due to headline the festival in 2015 but had to pull out after frontman Dave Grohl broke his leg during a gig in Sweden. “You know I hate to do it, but I’m afraid it’s just not physically possible for me at the moment,” he wrote on the band’s website at the time. “We’re doing our best right now to work out a plan, so bear with us. You know we’re good for our word. But for now, I need to make sure we have YEARS of gigs ahead of us.”

The Cheese and Grain, whose main hall holds up to 500 people, describes itself as “a not-for-profit, member owned social enterprise and also a registered charity. Its main aim is to promote and boost Frome’s social, cultural and economic life.”